Kamran Abbasi
A defeat tinged with optimism
Any match is merely a stepping stone on the long and winding road to the summit of international cricket
Kamran Abbasi
25-Feb-2013
Any match is merely a stepping stone on the long and winding road to the summit of international cricket. Several teams attempt the climb; some ascend, others stumble, but only one can raise its flag at the pinnacle. A genuine team effort is no guarantee of success although it is essential. There is scope for individual heroics but weak links must be few or non-existent; the journey must offer avenues for development of inexperienced team members and smooth over inevitable variations in performance.
When an inexperienced player beginning his personal journey at international level nears a milestone that might help him more than his country, what do you do? Is it tough love, or will a little love now make him tougher later? These were the questions circling Asad Shafiq's approach to a second Test century. Was it right to allow him to reach a personal landmark that would narrow Pakistan's chances of drawing a low-key Test series?
In truth, the odds were stacked in Shafiq's favour. Pakistan were ahead but not by enough. They were a spin bowler light on a wicket too placid for Pakistan's pacers. Only weight of runs would exert enough pressure on Sri Lanka's batsmen to crack under the interrogation of the best spin bowler to play in Sri Lanka since Murali's retirement. Even if the arguments for a declaration had been more powerful, it would still have been right to enable another hundred in Test cricket for Pakistan's promising middle-order batsman.
Full postWhy Afridi is right to call for new blood
We have been here before, I hear you say; Shahid Afridi , Pakistan's maverick hero, pondering another retirement , this time from the 50-overs version of international cricket
Kamran Abbasi
25-Feb-2013
We have been here before, I hear you say; Shahid Afridi, Pakistan's maverick hero, pondering another retirement, this time from the 50-overs version of international cricket. Afridi's desire for retirement changes with the seasons. People will question his motives. A booming fashion among star cricketers for T20 cricket tends to attract scepticism from fans rather than sympathy. We'd all prefer to be paid more to do less.
But let's strip away our cynicism for a moment and take Afridi's argument at face value: it's time, says the man who is always in a hurry, to make way for new blood and ready Pakistan for a challenge at the next 50-overs World Cup in 2015. It's an argument, whatever Afridi's true motivation, that I believe is compelling.
Pakistan cricket has a new board chairman. A new coaching team has taken charge too. Yet, this month's defeat to Sri Lanka in the ODI series had a stale aroma. No new players entered the fray. Old hands plied their familiar wares, and any old warriors that were recalled were pretty much as we remembered them. Pakistan cricket has rarely planned beyond the next series but success in modern cricket requires greater foresight.
Full postProfessor takes the T20 chair
Mohammad Hafeez, professor of the Pakistan cricket team, has now also become its Twenty20 captain
Kamran Abbasi
25-Feb-2013
Mohammad Hafeez, professor of the Pakistan cricket team, has now also become its Twenty20 captain. The professor's research interests might initially be restricted to T20 international cricket but impressive early work is a logical path to a more substantial role in one-day internationals. Misbah-ul Haq, who stepped down as the T20 captain, will be equally reluctant to surrender his ODI job but it is hard to see Hafeez's assignment as anything less than an interview for a bigger challenge.
Some Pakistan fans will be disappointed. Younis Khan and Shahid Afridi both still have their supporters although Hafeez has been the obvious successor to Misbah for over a year. Afridi might feel hardest done by. Younis stepped away from T20 internationals voluntarily whilst Afridi lost his captaincy thanks to the erratic decision making of Ijaz Butt, erstwhile chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board. Afridi was an unlikely captain but he brought a wild spirit to Pakistan's one-day challenges that helped revive his country's cricket when it was on its knees.
Misbah took that leadership and revival role further, firmly establishing himself as one of the most pivotal captains in Pakistan's unsettled history. Misbah's story isn't finished--and neither is Afridi's nor Younis's for that matter--but the England tour of UAE posed questions about Misbah's suitability as a captain, and even as a player, in the limited overs forms of cricket. Those doubts and the wisdom to groom a successor have worked in Hafeez's favour.
Full postFlogged, beaten, dead
We await with trepidation any further attempt to resurrect Bangladesh's tour of Pakistan. What do you do with a horse that has been flogged, beaten, and is already dead?
Kamran Abbasi
25-Feb-2013
We await with trepidation any further attempt to resurrect Bangladesh's tour of Pakistan. What do you do with a horse that has been flogged, beaten, and is already dead? This tour isn't toast, it's dog food.
You might have interpreted the length of Bangladesh's proposed visit in two ways. It was either a sensible staged return of international cricket to Pakistan or an indication of Bangladesh's reluctant enthusiasm for the trip. Either way, the PCB and Mustafa Kamal would have accelerated their agendas in the air-conditioned corridors of the ICC. The PCB would hail the return of international cricket to Pakistan, and Kamal would sleep easier over his nomination as the ICC's next vice-president.
Asian cricket is a blemished landscape. Afghanistan is rising, perhaps Bangladesh has risen. Pakistan and Sri Lanka remain flawed but compelling. Above the rush for survival and glory, India rules the skies with power, wealth, captivating personality, and myopic lens that distorts vision.
Full postThe opportunity in a Pakistan Premier League
Rumours of the death of Pakistan cricket, it seems, have been greatly exaggerated. If flowers can bloom in the desert, Pakistan cricket can thrive without the security glare of home internationals
Kamran Abbasi
25-Feb-2013
Rumours of the death of Pakistan cricket, it seems, have been greatly exaggerated. If flowers can bloom in the desert, Pakistan cricket can thrive without the security glare of home internationals. Recently, the Pakistan Cricket Board has struck a desperate tone in its failed attempt to attract Bangladesh to tour, and heightened its folly by trumpeting the current tour by a British Universities team.
International cricket in Pakistan is desirable but that will be an arduous behind-the-scenes struggle of diplomacy and reassurance. In the meantime, the PCB must pursue a two-pronged strategy. The first component of this is to establish international cricket at neutral venues as a successful enterprise; not so successful that international cricket need not return to Pakistan, but successful enough to satisfy fans, players, and accountants.
The second element is to create a thriving and marketable domestic game, one that allows fan enjoyment, player development, and advertiser investment. The success of Pakistan's own T20 tournaments has confirmed that all three requirements can be met, even in international isolation. It is under these circumstances that talk of a Pakistan Premier League is to be welcomed.
Full postNo victory too small
The Asia Cup hasn't always been memorable but this year's edition is finding it hard to go away. Pakistan won the cup, Bangladesh won hearts, and Sachin Tendulkar won back his poise thanks to a landmark hundred
Kamran Abbasi
25-Feb-2013
The Asia Cup hasn't always been memorable but this year's edition is finding it hard to go away. Pakistan won the cup, Bangladesh won hearts, and Sachin Tendulkar won back his poise thanks to a landmark hundred.
Three nations coming away with something to cheer about is an ingenious outcome for a tournament with four competitors, although Bangladesh spoilt the win-win atmosphere with their attempt to overturn the result of the final. Did Aizaz Cheema deliberately block Mahmudullah in the last over? Possibly, but a cricket board should refrain from appealing an umpiring decision after a match has finished.
Indeed, Bangladesh's plea is symptomatic of a frazzled relationship with the Pakistan Cricket Board, whose earlier assumption that Bangladesh would be the first to tour since 2009 was premature. The Bangladesh board has a duty to look after the safety of its players but, that said, it also has a duty not to mess with the psyche of fans. To offer a lifeline to Pakistan and then pull it away by suddenly changing the criteria for the trip is amateurish and seems disingenuous. Restoring home fixtures to Pakistan is a major step, and one that requires clear decision-making, not whimsical posturing from either side.
Full postThe limit of Misbah's miracle
Sometimes it is hard to make sense of defeat. On the brink of rescuing some dignity from the limited-overs half of England's tour, Pakistan threw away any hope of redemption
Kamran Abbasi
25-Feb-2013
Sometimes it is hard to make sense of defeat. On the brink of rescuing some dignity from the limited-overs half of England's tour, Pakistan threw away any hope of redemption. England bowled and fielded with great heart to underline their determination to remain the pre-eminent side in T20 cricket. But that is no solace for Pakistan fans who are understandably convinced that their team had done enough to win in Abu Dhabi.
A perplexing outcome was made more painful by the familiar sight of Misbah-ul-Haq fluffing another run chase. He wasn't the only culpable player although he was the most visible. Misbah has worked wonders with Pakistan cricket, particularly in the Test arena. He has brought stability to a capsizing vessel. He has been lauded for a whitewash of England in the Test series but he now faces a battle to save his captaincy in one-day cricket.
Misbah has been upset by criticism of his leadership, questioning the media's agenda against him. Misbah's cautious methods have certainly polarised opinion, although that legitimate debate has barely hindered the deserved acclaim that he has received for his record in Test cricket. But it is in limited-overs cricket that Misbah often strikes the wrong chord, out of tune with the match situation, a virtuoso playing to the wrong beat.
Full postOpportunity in lifeless surrender
Pakistan's splendid over-achievement in the Test series preceded lifeless surrender in the one-day sequel
Kamran Abbasi
25-Feb-2013
Pakistan's splendid over-achievement in the Test series preceded lifeless surrender in the one-day sequel. In the equation of whitewashes, Tests carry more gloss but Pakistan's crash back to earth is a reminder that the recent dominance of Misbah-ul-Haq's team in the UAE will be a mirage unless deep foundations are laid by the Pakistan Cricket Board.
Good teams fail intermittently but Pakistan were consistently woeful in this one-day series, a shockingly poor performance considering form in an environment that suits them. Pakistan failed to muster even one decent effort. The emptiness that England's supporters experienced only a week or ago was transferred to Pakistan's.
The most dismal moment was the selection for the final match. Misbah and Mohsin Khan opted for a lone fast bowler, one who had been kicking his heels most of the tour, to go with the potential of five spinners. One among the spin quintet was Shoaib Malik, a shadow of his former self since he was forced to modify his action. The poverty of logic in Pakistan's camp was confirmed by a decision not to select budding allrounder Hammad Azam or a second fast bowler. Even dropping Imran Farhat, scourge of supporters, offered little solace.
Full postPakistan's arrested development
A whitewash means nothing when the next match begins, and Pakistan proved it in the first one-day international of their series against England
Kamran Abbasi
25-Feb-2013
A whitewash means nothing when the next match begins, and Pakistan proved it in the first one-day international of their series against England. From the moment Misbah-ul-Haq lost the toss, and his body language betrayed his disappointment, Pakistan were a beaten team. A successful climb to the summit of international cricket requires all challenges to be treated with equal ambivalence and resolution. Still, one defeat isn't enough to deflate the feel-good factor surrounding Pakistan's progress.
England produced some excellent individual performances in Abu Dhabi, their skipper Alastair Cook's century followed by a perfectly timed two-fingered salute to the selection committee from Steven Finn. Pakistan didn't have the skill to overcome those outstanding efforts and they fared little better against a more comfortable challenge from Samit Patel. When Pakistan suck they do it with insatiable lust.
Despite all the highs of last year, Pakistan's mixture isn't quite a heady cocktail. A dearth of quality openers and allrounders poses the most serious question of Pakistan's talent pool.
Full postYounis raises Pakistan's standard
Misbah-ul-Haq's Pakistan worked a miracle to inflict a whitewash on the world's top side, only the fifth occasion that a Pakistan team has achieved that landmark
Kamran Abbasi
25-Feb-2013
Pakistan cricket lived a dream beyond its wildest imagination in the stadiums of Arabia. Misbah-ul-Haq's Pakistan worked a miracle to inflict a whitewash on the world's top side, only the fifth occasion that a Pakistan team has achieved that landmark. England were expected to be formidable opponents, likely to expose Pakistan's progress as superficial. England improved with the series but not enough to challenge Pakistan's dominance. The rapid progress that Pakistan have made in the last 12 months was sealed with an English kiss.
Determination and tenacity are trademarks of this new Pakistan, although there is no shortage of skill in the spin attack, the best in Asia, or the pace of Umar Gul, a threat with new ball and old. In Azhar Ali and Asad Shafiq, Pakistan have young batsmen of sound temperament, a trait often lacking in emerging Pakistani talent. At the helm, Misbah, the mild-mannered miser of Mianwali, has galvanised his troops in a fashion unseen since the days of Imran Khan. Mohsin Khan, a flashing blade in Imran's team, has been just as sharp in his astute handling of Pakistan's progress.
In a series dominated by Pakistan's spin bowlers and the DRS, batsmen have been befuddled, embarrassed, even shell shocked. This mysterious art of spin has left some of the world's best players tortured wrecks; a mental monster devoured confidence and frazzled nerves. Indeed, both sides struggled at the crease; the batsman's series we expected was a bowler's paradise. In these unexpected circumstances, Younis Khan's innings in the final Test might just be the performance of the contest.
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